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Games live on Google+

Those invited to the latest social network can now try out Dragon Age: Legends, Bejeweled Blitz, and Angry Birds, among others.

Although Google+ is not an open platform like Facebook, the Google Blog has announced it will feature third-party games from today.

The full list of launch titles kicks off with the phenomenally successful Angry Birds; PopCap's Bejeweled Blitz; Bubble Island; City of Wonder; Collapse! Blast, Crime City; Diamond Dash; BioWare's Dragon Age: Legends; Dragons of Atlantis; Edge World; Flood-It!; Monster World; Sudoku; Wild Ones; Zombie Lane and Zynga Poker.

Google is firm in its resolve to guard Google+ from becoming the notification spam nightmare Facebook can devolve into, and has implemented app control features to help you avoid seeing games activity without actually blocking the games or circle members.

Moreover, Google won't be opening the network to developers as Facebook has, but will maintain tight control over what gets released on the service.

"Because we want to provide both a great user experience and a great developer experience, we’re focusing on quality before quantity," the blog noted.

"We will continue to add new partners and new features in small steps, starting with today’s release of the games APIs to a small number of developers."

Although this lock down might scare of some developers, Google+ offers rewards elsewhere. According to a report by VentureBeat, Google will take just a five percent slice of micro-transactions, a drastic reduction on Facebook's 30 percent.

Dragon Age: Legends, developed by EA2D before its incorporation into EA's newly-formed BioWare label as BioWare San Francisco , is probably of the most interest to core gamers, as is unlocks content including weapons and armour for Dragon Age II.

"Dragon Age Legends raises the quality bar for social network games. By bringing the franchise to Google+, we’re able to connect and entertain millions of existing and new fans within the rich, immersive Dragon Age universe," BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka said of the launch.

Thanks, Gamasutra, Game Informer.

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Brenna Hillier avatar

Brenna Hillier

Contributor

Based in Australia and having come from a lengthy career in the Aussie games media, Brenna worked as VG247's remote Deputy Editor for several years, covering news and events from the other side of the planet to the rest of the team. After leaving VG247, Brenna retired from games media and crossed over to development, working as a writer on several video games.

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